Here And Now

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is in Albany. At 10 a.m., he’ll attend a Regional Economic Development Council meeting in the Capitol’s Red Room.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand continues her downstate tour with a top in Queens, where she’ll join Sen. Jose Peralta and advocates and business owners to call for an increase in the federal minimum wage. (3:15 p.m., Make the Road New York, 92-10 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights).

Gillibrand’s opponent, Wendy Long, will be in Buffalo, where she’ll attend a rally in her honor at the Ellicott Square Atrium (the building is owned by Carl Paladino), 5:30-7 p.m.

Headlines…

Mayor Bloomberg says NYC is going to have to start “cutting back and economizing” following a judge’s ruling that the five-borough taxi plan is illegal.

The Bronx DA and the AG’s office are investigating reports by the NY Post that Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera misused taxpayer dollars and put ex-lovers on the public payroll.

With less than 18 months to go in Bloomberg’s unexpectedly long tenure, nearly three-quarters of NYC voters said he should not have been allowed to run for a third term, according to the latest poll by The New York Times.

Rep. Kathy Hochul is already up on the air with her first TV ad in the NY-26 race. Chris Collins intends to launch his first spot today on cable and broadcast stations in Rochester.

Add Rep. Nan Hayworth to the list of NY House members with tough re-election bids who are skipping their parties’ respective national conventions. (Her Democratic opponent, Sean Patrick Maloney, isn’t going either).

Rep. Todd Akin cancelled his appearance on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” so the host spoke to an empty chair and called the Missouri congressman a “gutless little twerp.”

Akin, who hasn’t yet dropped his US Senate bid despite pressure from party leaders, recorded a TV ad asking for “forgiveness” from voters and acknowledging he used “the wrong words in the wrong way” when he suggested that rape rarely leads to pregnancy.

Experts surmise the Israel skinny-dipping incident wasn’t what the FBI was after, and suggest the real target was Rep. Michael Grimm, whose fundraising is under scrutiny.

Rep. Tom Reed Reed acknowledged jumping into the Sea of Galilee in shorts and a golf shirt with his wife, Jean, but said calls for his resignation are “extreme.”

Reed said he was “appropriately clothed” and not drunk at the time of his ill-fated swim.

“From my perspective, we didn’t see anything that was inappropriate,” Reed insisted.

Albany County Legislature Chairman Shawn Morse, who is challenging Sen. Neil Breslin in the Democratic primary, once broke a man’s nose in a bar fight.

The Board of Regents and the state education commissioner are being asked to consider adding 19 more New York City high schools to the list of 28 schools statewide that use student projects to satisfy the five-regents exam graduation requirement.

A vet and a biologist explain why the state’s yogurt industry and fracking “don’t mix.”

Cuomo continues to insist no final decision has yet been made on allowing fracking in the Marcellus.

Ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer declined to comment on the fact that the former prostitute who ended his political career is now with child, “except (to say to) anybody who is pregnant, congratulations and good luck.”

Hopefully, Fage in frack-free Fulton County is revving up a new ad campaign as we speak. They shouldn’t buy milk from farmers who frack. Then they can put “made from frack-free cows” on the label just like like folks put “made from cows not given BGH” on milk containers.

Fage has been handed a fabulous opportunity (potential world domination of the greek yogurt market) on a silver platter…if only they don’t screw it up…again.

BTW, I have been to our new Trader Joe’s in Albany. They have a big section of Fage yogurt. Bigger than all of the others. I think there was a sign saying made locally. It was on sale, too. Excellent.

BusterBrown

[Cuomo continues to insist no final decision has yet been made on allowing fracking in the Marcellus.]

Don’t you hate it when politicians lie right to your face, as if you’re stupid?

The fix was in for fracking from day 1 of the Cuomo administration. Cuomo is the new Pinnochio. The political cartoon practically draws itself.

gecannonphd

(Rep. Todd Akin cancelled his appearance on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” so the host spoke to an empty chair and called the Missouri congressman a “gutless little twerp.”)
*****************
Those are fighting words, mr. morgan; and his 3 viewers will like it.
Better minds than mine have explained to me the real reason for Akin’s remark on the woman’s body rejecting pregnancy from rape.
It is the belief that many women, young girls especially, lie to abortion clinic staff. They allegedly proclaim that the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest in order to expedite the abortion procedure.
Does this happen?
Sure it does, but without data to support any conclusion, it likely is a very small minute %.*
I don’t see how claiming rape or incest would make an abortion quicker or easier. Both of these claims would trigger police and DA investigations. It would be anything but a clean process.
I imagine this canard of wide spread lying on rape/incest is a concoction from the neurotransmitter-challenged brain of ElRusbo, Hannity and Ann Coulter.
I could be wrong on so many ways on this.
( Research shows that only only 1% to 3% of abortions are performed for the reasons of rape, incest, deformity, or threat to the life of the mother.) from google search. 2008 data.

gecannonphd

Yesterday’s NYT front page story describes how the p.r. consultants, producers and directors are working 24/7 to make next week’s GOP convention a prime-time show that will convince viewers that Romney/Ryan, and the GOP elite, are “warm and open”- cuddly if you will.
And how better to convey this warmth, openness and cuddliness than to have Gov. Chris Christee as the keynote speaker.
Yes siree bob, that will do it!!
LOL.